Survivors
by shadesunrider13
Summary: Priest remembers his first vampire hunt...and his first survivor. AU.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I watched the movie and couldn't get this idea out of my head. The date is just something I guessed at - the movie seemed like it would take place in the future. The setting is after the war, and Priest is trying to make sense of his life again.

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><p>Logbook Entry: 1225/2153 in Cathedral City

Priest:

The war with the vampires has been over for two years, and I'm starting to understand what it feels like to be a survivor. When you fight, every fiber of your being is alive and focused. You have a clear purpose and a goal. Now, in peacetime, that energy is gone. Someone once told me that survivors don't remember how to live any longer. I think I finally know what that means.

I met a handful of survivors during the war, but there's only one I still think about. She was a survivor of the massacre in Arial Township - the first survivor I ever met - and perhaps that's why she remains in my thoughts to this day. This is her story, and maybe if I tell it I can find some peace from the memories.

By the time we got to the town, it was daylight and the vampires were gone. Our job was to look for survivors. I found this sort of annoying - I mean, it was my first assignment. I wanted to kill vampires, not be part of an ad-hoc mop-up operation. But those were our orders; check for survivors and interview them to discover what happened.

The problem was, there didn't seem to be any survivors. There were drained corpses as far as the eye could see, but not a single living being. The vampires hadn't left anyone alive. I tried not to look at the bodies, but as I was soon going to figure out, its not a problem to look at bodies. It's the survivors. They are the ones you shouldn't look at.

We split up into groups of three and kept searching. My group arrived at one house that was completely wrecked. It looked like a bomb had gone off inside of it. We went inside, and that was when we saw the corpses. There were seven of them; three dead humans, and four dead vampires. The vampire corpses were shriveled from the sun, but it wasn't the sun that killed them. They all had identical, gaping wounds in their chests - like someone had reached into their rib cages and pulled out their hearts.

The human corpses were drained. A man, a woman, and a small boy - an entire family. I kept walking, trying not to look at the bodies, and I stepped on something. It was a picture frame with a picture of the family in it. Except in the picture, there was one other person.

I showed the photograph to my mentor. "This girl - you think she survived?"

"It's unlikely that a teenage girl was able to kill four vampires," my mentor said. "So unlikely that I daresay it's impossible. Perhaps a vampire turned her into its familiar, or it dragged her off to feed elsewhere."

My disappointment must have shown on my face, because my mentor patted my shoulder and said, "Or maybe she beat the odds. Let's keep looking."

I probably should have put the photograph back, but I didn't. Instead I kept picking my way through the ruins of the house, studying it. The missing girl had dark hair and dark eyes, although since the picture was black and white, I couldn't tell their exact color. She was smiling into the camera, but her eyes seemed like they were a million miles away.

_Did you know? _I wondered. _Did you know what was going to happen to you?_

There were stories about people like that - who left towns on a whim mere hours before an attack occurred. They all said the same thing when asked why they fled; variations of, "I had a bad feeling about it." During my training, when the Clergy was trying to cram seven years worth of lessons into my head in one year, a recurring theme was trusting your instincts. If you had a powerfully bad feeling about a place, don't go there.

I was so lost in thought examining that picture that I tripped on something and sprawled myself over the wreckage. I clambered back to my feet, face red, hoping that neither my mentor nor the other priest - nicknamed Seven, because he so often preached about the seven deadly sins - had seen me fall. They'd never let me hear the end of it. Then I took a good look at the object that had tripped me up.

It was an overturned couch, flipped forward so that the front of it rested on the ground, leaving a small, dark space underneath. And I was sure I saw something moving down there.

I called my mentor and Seven over. "There's something alive under there."

They both peered at it, not willing to get too close.

"It could be a vampire," said Seven.

"Why would a vampire be under there?" said my mentor. "It's either a familiar or a human. Shine your light at it and see if its eyes reflect the light back at you."

If it was an infected person, its eyes would be reflective like a cat's. If not, it was an ordinary human. I watched with some trepidation as Seven crouched down a few feet away and aimed his flashlight at the dark space beneath the overturned couch. We all saw the moment when his light hit the person's face. The person's eyes were bright green, but not reflective in the slightest. It was a human.

"It's a human," Seven said unnecessarily. "A girl."

"It's her!" I said, pointing to the girl in the picture. "She is alive!" Then, with some confusion, "Why is she still in hiding? The sun was up hours ago."

Seven sighed. "This is what they don't teach you in training. Survivors of vampire attacks, even if they aren't infected, usually don't last long. Call it what you will - shell shock, post-traumatic stress disorder - but either way, they don't remember how to live anymore. It happens especially in cases where the whole family gets taken out. They just give up."

"Maybe this one will beat the odds," my mentor said, glaring at Seven. He turned to me. "How about you see if you can get her to come out?"

"Me?"

"You're younger," he said, "and consequently less threatening. Based on that picture of yours -" he indicated the one in my hand "- she seems to be about the same age as you. She'll see you as a friend, trust you more. Give it a go."

I dropped down on my hands and knees and held out a hand. "Are you all right?"

There was movement from the space. She stirred, and I glimpsed her face, a pale oval framed by darkness.

"It's okay," I continued. "It's okay. The vampires are gone. You can come out now. It's safe. Look, the sun is out. You know they can't come out in the sunlight. No one's going to hurt you, I promise."

At this point, I was babbling like a grade-A idiot, but I didn't care. I was completely focused on the only survivor. I don't know why - maybe it was because, surrounded by all this death and destruction, I was desperate to feel like I'd succeeded at something. Desperate to know that, because of me, at least one person had been saved.

My voice seemed to reassure her. She moved forward slightly, so that she was right at the edge of the shadow cast by her hiding place.

I extended my hand again. "Take my hand."

She hesitated.

"I won't let anyone hurt you," I said, barely able to believe myself. I had said those words to Shannon, the girl I loved, and now here I was saying them to a girl whose name I didn't even know. "Trust me."

She stretched out her hand and took mine. Her hand and forearm were covered in dried blood. Dried vampire blood.

I looked up at my mentor. "It's impossible for a teenage girl to have killed a vampire, hmm?"

My mentor nodded brusquely, but he was smiling. "She's responding to you. That's a good sign - if the shutdown happens, it's impossible to break them out of it. See if you can get her to come out of there."

Hesitantly, I tugged on her hand, and slowly she unfolded herself from her hiding place. She put her free hand on the couch to use it as a handhold on her way to standing, and I saw that her other hand was covered in vampire blood as well. She was looking around like she didn't know where she was, and then she took off through the wreckage.

"Wait!" I chased after her, but I didn't have to go far. She was on her knees, next to the corpses of her parents and brother. After a moment, she reached over and shut her mother's eyes. Unsure what to do, I said, "I'm sorry for what happened to your family."

"Don't be sorry," she said. Her voice was low and clear. "You didn't kill them."

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Trinity," she said.

Trinity followed us on our search for survivors, picking through the rubble and pulling out objects. Most of them were guns, and by the time we reached the ruins of what Trinity said was the town hall, she had quite a collection of them tucked under one arm.

"There's the town charter," Trinity said, pointing to a charred book. "That'll do for a list of the dead. Only, wait a moment -"

Trinity rummaged through the debris and pulled out a pen, which she used to draw a line through her name. Then she handed the charter back to Seven and straightened up.

"I guess I'll be going now," Trinity said.

"Going where?" my mentor said.

Trinity shrugged. "East, maybe? I don't know. I'll just keep walking, I guess."

"It's not safe out there," I said. Call me stupid, but I felt bound by the promise I'd made to her. I'd said I would keep her safe, and I didn't plan on breaking that promise.

Trinity smiled slightly, sadly. "Sweet of you to worry, but I'm about a thousand times stronger than I look. I'll be all right."

She started to walk away, but I wasn't ready to let her leave. "Wait," I said, holding out the picture of her family. "You forgot this."

"You keep it," Trinity said. "Please. Keep it safe for me. And who knows? Maybe we'll see each other again someday."

"All right," I said. And then I watched Trinity walk away toward the east, a collection of guns tucked under her arm and bullets in her pockets, her hands covered in vampire blood. I felt this vast, hollow feeling settle into my chest, as though I'd lost my heart and had nothing to fill the space.

It's been fourteen years since I last saw her, and I know it's unlikely that Trinity is still alive. But I like to think of her out there, walking across the desert until she reaches the place from which the sun rises. I hope that wherever she is, she's found some kind of happiness. I hope she's done better than I have.

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><p>What do you think? Worth continuing? Review or PM me to give your thoughts.<p> 


	2. City of Sin

A/N: One quick note for readers - make sure you check the date and location headings at the beginning of each chapter. Otherwise, you might get more than a little confused. Happy reading.

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><p>Date and Location: 311/2157 in Luxor (known in the Clergy as the "City of Sin")

Trinity:

I'm busy helping Misty May into what has to be the fifteenth dress she's tried on. Personally, I don't understand why going out for pizza and a movie (although if I know Misty May, she won't eat the pizza and she'll have two pieces of popcorn) requires the perfect wardrobe, but Misty May is adamant. She's not leaving the house until everything, down to the last curl in her red hair, is perfect.

I wonder if I used to be like her. Even if I was - which I doubt - there wasn't much cause to get dressed up in Cathedral City, and I lived in Arial Township for barely three months. Not much time to get to know anyone.

"What do you think, Trinity?" Misty May says, stretching out the full skirt between her hands. "Is this too retro?"

_Retro for what? _I think. In Luxor, almost everything is retro, because there's always someone wearing a newer style. The Clergy calls it the "City of Sin", but I think they should replace the word sin with the word 'excess'. "No," I say idly.

Misty May stops examining herself in the mirror and turns to look at me, hands poised on her hips. "Are you paying attention, Trinity?"

"No," I say truthfully. "Honestly, Misty May, I don't understand why this is such a big deal."

"It's a big deal because I've liked him for ages," Misty May says. "And he's finally asking me out. On a date!"

"Does it still count as a date if there are five other people there?" I say pointedly. Misty May chooses to ignore my attempt to bring her back to earth, and continues on.

"Seriously, Trinity, I'm seventeen," she says. "I'm the only one of my friends who hasn't had a boyfriend. And it's not like I think he's the one or anything -" I smirk, as the moonstruck expression on Misty May's face contradicts her words "- it's just a little romance. It can't cause any problems."

"Sure it can," I say, picking up one of the rejected dresses and putting it back on its hanger. "Look where 'a little romance' got Romeo and Juliet."

Misty May ignores this as well. "It's about time someone asked me out. I was beginning to think the boys were scared of me."

Likely it's Misty May's father the boys are scared of, but I don't say this aloud. Misty May is a master of ignoring distasteful facts, and the one she ignores the most is that her father is one of the biggest crime lords in Luxor. His feud with another kingpin cost Misty May's mother her life, but I'm not judging - if Leah hadn't died, I wouldn't have gotten this job.

After Arial Township was destroyed, I walked east through the desert for two years. It wasn't always easy - I have the scars to prove it - but I eventually made it to Luxor. Luxor is the only city outside the Clergy's control, and as such, I'd spent my life hearing wild stories about how Luxor's streets were filled with drunkards, rapists, and prostitutes.

They weren't kidding about the prostitutes, although just about everything else was a lie. I wandered through the city, wondering how the hell I was going to feed myself, and then I found a newspaper. I huddled up in the corner of a filthy bar and went through the classified section, ad by ad, until I found one that looked promising. _Seeking caretaker for two children, aged 2 and 18 months. Experience is preferred. Inquire with Maximilian Aster._

I didn't know anything, so I thought I'd give it a try. It wasn't until I asked the bartender where I could find this Maximilian Aster that I learned that he was one of the city's crime lords, and that his wife had recently been murdered by his rivals. Still, I was hungry and I needed work, and I went for an interview.

Maximilian Aster thought I was a joke, at first. He asked me how old I was. Eighteen, I said. _What was my experience with children?_ Raised my brother because my Mama was sick, sir, I said. _Had I always lived in Luxor? _No, sir, I said. I'm new here.

Then he leaned forward in his chair. _Can you - will you - protect my children?_

With my life, sir, I said.

He laughed. _You're barely grown yourself. How can I expect you to protect my children?_

I'm stronger than I look, I said.

_I don't think so_, Maximilian Aster said.

I took a risk at this point. A stupid risk, but it was necessary. I grabbed the gun from one of his bodyguards and shot myself in the chest. It hurt like hell - it always does, when I injure myself - but I got the satisfaction of watching Maximilian Aster's eyes widen in shock as the gaping, bloody hole in my chest sealed over as though it had never been there in the first place. Needless to say, I got the job, and I've been taking care of Misty May and her younger brother Eli ever since. A combination of nursemaid and bodyguard.

"Come on, Trinity," Misty May says. "When was the last time you went on a date?"

"Let me think about it," I say. "Oh, I remember - never!"

Dating is frowned upon in Cathedral City. Good girls don't kiss until they're married, or if they do, they do it secretly - so that they don't get the word _Jezebel _branded on their foreheads. Once, I felt as though I really connected with someone. But it wouldn't have ever worked out, and after eighteen years I'm starting to think the whole thing was a combination of shell shock and adrenaline.

"Trinity," Misty May says, sitting down on the end of her bed and swinging her legs, "would you die to protect me and Eli?"

"Of course," I say without hesitation. "If it's possible for me to die, that is. Don't worry yourself about it, Misty May. I will protect you for as long as you need me to."

"Why can you do those things?" Misty May says. "Heal yourself, and punch through walls?"

"I don't know," I say, trying not to roll my eyes. I swear I've had this conversation with Misty May a thousand times before. "I was told that my abilities were a gift from God. Anyway, there are plenty of gifted people in Luxor. Ask one of them."

"None of them can do what you do," Misty May says. "They're just really strong and fast. I've never met someone who could heal themselves before, or do…what do you call it when you make your whole body as hard as iron, but you still look normal?"

"Armoring," I say. "Maybe my gift is rarer. Stop fussing with your hair, or I'll have to redo it."

And just like that, the conversation is back to Misty May's date night. She's refreshingly easy to redirect.

"I think I look okay like this," Misty May says. "I'm just gonna turn on the TV until it's time to go, all right?"

"Sure," I say, and I start hanging up the dresses, tuning out the babble of the TV.

After a few moments, having flipped past the music channel and onto the news, Misty May snickers. "Looks like the Clergy are eating their young again."

"They don't have young, they're all celibate," I say.

"No, seriously," Misty May says. "You know the warrior priests? Of course you do, you lived in the cities. Anyways, one of them broke ranks to go rescue his niece from the vampires, and now they've sent other priests after him to bring him back. Dead or alive."

"Lovely," I say. News of the cities always makes me sad. But then something registers, and I say, "Vampires?"

"Yeah, apparently there's a rogue hive," Misty May says. Like all Luxorians, Misty May doesn't much care about vampires eating people. Luxor has a longstanding treaty with the Vampire Queen - one of the stipulations being that the Luxorians don't get involved with the Clergy's war against the vampires. "You should check out this priest guy. He's kinda hot."

I give the TV a cursory glance and immediately drop all the dresses in my arms into a messy heap on the floor.

"It can't be," I say, walking closer and staring at the picture. He's older, obviously - eighteen years older. But it's undeniably the same priest who coaxed me out of the wreckage of my family's home in Arial. The one I gave the picture of my family to. I told him to hang onto it. In case we met again someday.

"Can't be what?" Misty May says. She glances from the TV screen to me and back again, genuinely confused.

My mind is racing. A rogue hive of vampires - that can't be right, because all the vampires still in the Clergy's territory are locked onto reservations. The Vampire Queen clearly has intentions of starting the war again. And I have a decision to make; am I going to stand by and watch the vampires rampage through my old homeland, watch other families torn apart with their violence, see other villages massacred? Or am I going to go back home and do something about it?

_You were given this gift for a reason_, my mother told me, ages ago. _So you can protect those who cannot protect themselves_.

That's what clinches it for me. "I have to go," I say, and I leave Misty May's room.

Misty May chases after me. "What? Go? Go where? Trinity, wait! What are you doing?"

Eli, fifteen and incredibly misanthropic, is roused by the noise. "What the hell, Misty?"

"Trinity's leaving," Misty May says. She's standing in the doorway to my room as I pack my meager belongings in a bag. Sixteen years here. And in all that time I've gathered almost no possessions. It's like I was always ready to leave.

Eli ponders this, poking his head in the door. "Really? Where you going?"

"West," I say.

Misty May is starting to tear up. "You're leaving us! You said you wouldn't leave! You said you'd be here to protect us for as long as we needed you!"

"I did say that," I admit, "but you don't need me anymore. You're a big girl now, Misty May. You can take care of yourself."

"But I d-d-don't w-want to!" Misty May howls, and the sound brings Maximilian Astor out of his study.

"What is this, Trinity?" he says. "Where do you think you're going?"

Most people in Luxor would cower to hear that tone of voice from him. Not me. I stand straight and tall, and I say, "I ask you to remember back to when you hired me, sir. The only condition of my employment was that when it was time for me to leave, you would let me go."

He nods. "Where do you go?"

"Home," I say. "It's time."

Maximilian Astor nods again, brusquely. I turn to the children, Misty May and Eli. I've raised them like they're my own, and it tears my heart to leave them behind. But letting them see my sadness won't do, and so I slip back behind the no-nonsense veneer I've learned to keep up.

"Stand up straight, Eli," I say, poking him in the stomach and forcing him to lengthen his spine. "No girl's going to want to date someone who slouches. And don't forget to feed your mouse. It's all on you now. I'm not here to feed him anymore, so if you don't do it, your mouse is going to die."

Eli, emotionless Eli, looks like he's about to cry. "Okay," he sniffs, and then he turns his back so that I won't see his tears.

Misty May has dissolved into a soggy mess at this point. I wipe away smeared mascara from under her eyes and say, "Misty May, stop crying. When your date asks you why you're crying, what're you going to say? You going to say you're crying because your maid left? He's going to think you're insane."

"You're not a maid," Misty May manages. "You're our mother."

I nearly lose it at that, but I cover it by reaching out and drawing Misty May and Eli into a hug.

"This isn't forever," I soothe, patting their backs like I used to do when they were small. "I'm going to be at your wedding, Misty May, and at yours, Eli. This is just something I've got to do. But I'll be back."

"Promise?" Eli says.

"Promise," I say. I let go of them and dispense one last piece of advice. "Don't forget about that mouse, Eli. If I come back and find out that it died of starvation, you're going to be in trouble."

Eli nods. I lift my bag and turn to leave, only to find my way blocked by Maximilian Astor.

"It took you two years walking to get here," he says to me. "Were you planning to walk back?"

To be honest, I wasn't thinking about how I was going to get back into the Clergy's territory. I was a bit preoccupied with getting out of the house. But as always, Maximilian has an answer, and he drops a set of keys into my hand.

"Take the bike," he says. "It'll get you there faster."

Oddly enough, it's this gesture of kindness from the most vicious crime lord in the city that sends tears running down my cheeks.

"You've served and protected my family well these past years," Maximilian says. "Thank you."

They follow me out to the garage where the bike is parked, and watch as I climb aboard and start the engine.

"Godspeed, Trinity," Maximilian says, and I put the bike into gear. The engine roars, and I shoot out of the garage and onto the street. All the way through the city and out the main gate and into the desert, I don't look back. I can't look back.

_You fool, Trinity_, I tell myself savagely as the desert blurs past me. _You give your heart away without a thought. To someone you knew you'd never see again, to another woman's children…it's like you're a masochist_.

The force of the wind against my face dries my tears, and like I did once before, I force myself to let go of this life in Luxor. I have two things in my mind; the outlying towns that I must now protect, and the picture of my family in the hands of the priest.


End file.
